There are many battles taking place these days, probably too many to list at one time. The war in Israel has pushed the news from Washington D.C. off to the side, but there is no way to ignore the struggle for power taking place in the House of Representatives.
Some spectators view it as just a political spectacle but it is actually a battle for the soul of the Republican Party.
Once upon a time, the Republican Party was a known commodity. It stood for big business, tax cuts for the wealthy, free trade and sometimes it was an isolationist party.
But the party of Ronald Reagan, George H.W. Bush, George W. Bush, Bob Dole and John Mc Cain has become a captive of former President Donald Trump, who has molded the party into a lump of clay, manipulated by one man to suit his personal needs and gain.
Despite the fact that there are seven announced candidates for the Republican presidential nomination, other than former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, there is no challenger that has the backbone to challenge Donald Trump.
Even though Trump has cost the party the White House and the House, the other six dwarfs sit by quietly, hoping for some political miracle that will propel them into the White House.
Perhaps by some miracle, by the time this column is in public view, the House will have picked a new speaker, but there is more of a chance that they will be conducting business with an acting speaker.
After allowing a small band of right-wing renegades to torpedo Speaker McCarthy, the party then knee-capped Steve Scalise, the No.2 candidate.
That left the majority party with the worst possible choice in Jim Jordan, a flame-throwing member who most people believe was working hand-in-hand with Mr. Trump to overturn the elections on Jan. 6.
My moderate Republican friends tell me that they shudder at the thought that Jordan even was under consideration for the job that would make him No. 2 in line if there was a vacancy in the presidency.
Jordan lacks the credentials and the decency to be considered for such a critical role in the administration of our national government. As chair of the Judiciary Committee, he is willing to issue multiple subpoenas to anyone who has the last name Biden but defied a congressional committee when they issued a subpoena to him.
Jordan had one more so-called claim to fame to qualify him for the speaker’s job. He was given a full-throated endorsement by Mr. Trump who urged his colleagues to put him in the speaker’s chair, “as the best qualified person for the job.”
The former president has been trying to manipulate the entire House for the past three years and his support for Jordan was meant to be the crowning moment for an ex-president who is currently facing 94 criminal charges.
The 2024 election is getting closer by the day and the actions of the House will decide whether the party is able to win enough seats to hold on to power. The chaos that has occurred on the House floor is not exactly a recommendation for continued control of that major legislative body.
And the person who will run that body can either make or break the fate of the House Republicans. A Jordan victory means a shutdown of the government, cuts in military spending and no aid for the war in Ukraine.
To an outsider, the struggle in the House looks like just another skirmish between some power-hungry politicians. That is not the case.
It is really a battle for the soul of the Republican Party. If the Jim Jordans of this world can take over the House, then the institution as we know it will have died.
For the Republican Party to be a party, the Jim Jordans of this world must be defeated.